Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Fingerprints For Traffic Tickets?

Are we a nation of criminals, guilty until proven innocent?

The trends nationwide - and here in Tennessee - are more and more often pointing to "Yes".

For now, a new proposal which would allow for Tennesseans who get traffic citations to be fingerprinted is on hold until it comes up for a vote again next Thursday. This news means Sen. Joe Haynes knew there would not be enough votes to pass this bill ... today.

But police seem to want this law passed. They want new electronic ticketing equipment, they say, and hey, only someone guilty of something could be opposed to such a procedure, right?

" ... the ones who were most worried about it were likely the ones who were doing something wrong ... " (link)Some communities already require this - and there are host of state-required licenses which demand fingerprints, such as optometrists in Texas and dentists in Tennessee. A new law in Chicago requires a fingerprint from someone who wants to sell their home, another law will require fingerprints in San Diego for those who skateboard. (In Tennessee, a law requiring a fingerprint to purchase a gun, however, has been eliminated.)

If fingerprints are the best way to catch a criminal or prevent a crime, then let's use technology and jump ahead a few years -- let's just require a DNA identification be created at your birth, an ID which will be kept in databases (never to be abused or misused, noooo). And if anyone ever gets a ticket or is arrested (not convicted, just arrested) or wants a job in real estate or dentistry or teaching or buying a car or using a parking garage, then they must be implanted with a tracking chip so we can keep tabs on them. Just in case.

Since our nation requires fingerprints now for so many jobs and transactions, why, we should already be safe as safe can be. And if these programs have not made everything perfectly safe, then more security, more demands must be placed on you, all of you, since none of you are to be trusted.